The National:

THE BBC Question Time from Motherwell last night was disgraceful enough on its own – but it also continued a more long-running sinister trend.

Most of the post-show headlines have been stolen, understandably, by the ridiculous make-up of its audience. Helped on by the hardcore Unionist who made his third (or fourth) speaking appearance on the show.

But that isn't the only reason independence supporters should be outraged.

READ MORE: Question Time slammed for 'most rigged audience ever'

One question stood out. An audience member asked: "With the ensuing carnage created by Brexit, on what planet do the SNP believe Scotland leaving the union is for the good?"

The bias is incredibly obvious. But maybe that's just the way questions are done on Question Time? Ask a highly partial question, and let the panel, with their diverse views (in an ideal world!), give their thoughts.

So, we thought we'd look through the archives, to see how it matched up against other independence-related questions on the show.

We went back to the first show of 2017, which means eight episodes of Question Time, including last night and including a Leaders' General Election Special featuring Nicola Sturgeon and Tim Farron.

The questions relating to independence that have been asked are:

  • With the ensuing carnage created by Brexit, on what planet do the SNP believe Scotland leaving the union is for the good?
  • Will a no deal Brexit boost the case for a Scottish Independence referendum?
  • Is now the right time for a second independence referendum?
  • Would the SNP be prepared to compromise on an independence referendum and join a coalition with another party to stop the Conservatives from winning?
  • With SNP support falling, do you accept that you miscalculated the mood of Scotland by calling another independence referendum?
  • Will a Conservative advance across Scotland halt a second independence referendum?
  • Why do the SNP want to reclaim powers from Westminster only to hand them over to Brussels?

We suspect you'll have noticed a trend, here. When the topic of independence comes up, the questions are always either neutral, anti-independence or anti-SNP.

"On what planet" would leaving the Union be good, "with SNP support failing", "miscalculated the mood of Scotland", why "reclaim powers from Westminster only to hand them over to Brussels".

Not one of these questions is framed from a pro-independence perspective. So, it's simply not possible to write off last night's question as being balanced out in the long run.

Though, we must admit, talk in 2017 of "a Conservative advance across Scotland" gave us a good laugh.

And, we do want to include one bonus question asked, though not directy related to independence. It went: "Should our present Prime Minister Theresa May be replaced by our excellent Ruth Davidson?"

Yes, that was really asked.

The BBC's "flagship political debate show" just isn't doing good enough.